Iron and Blood: A Triumph of the Will

Joachim didn't know if his time travel had caused a historical deviation, resulting in the unification of Germany and Austria being brought forward by several decades.

In short, he didn't care, since even if Germany and Austria were to unite, Britain and France would not tacitly allow Germany to take over Austria.

The Treaty of Versailles was designed to limit and weaken Germany...

It is clearly not in the interest of Britain and France to allow Austria to join Germany now.

Therefore, Joachim already had the answer in his mind: Austria would not stay in Germany for long before being kicked out by Britain and France under the Treaty of Versailles.

So Joachim stopped caring, since embarrassing the Weimar government would also be in his future interest.

The weaker the Weimar Republic was territorially, the more it fit his persona as a strongman.

Moreover, in a sense, this could also incite German hatred towards Britain and France, making it easier for him to carry out his revenge plan later.

Some people within the German system still fail to grasp reality and believe that Britain and France will treat Germany according to Wilson's demands...

Joachim was simply naive, and this was a perfect opportunity to shatter their dreams.

It also lets them see the true nature of those imperialist powers.

With that thought in mind, Joachim composed himself and looked out the window.

According to the Empire's standards, Pots is definitely not a so-called industrial powerhouse.

This land was once merely an agricultural region for the German Empire. This was partly because Potseh lacked the potential to become an industrial powerhouse, and partly due to the German Empire's distrust of the Poles. Since the founding of the German Empire, the Poles here had harbored a strong rebellious spirit. They secretly formed the Patriots' League and consistently obstructed the Germanization of Potseh... They also secretly purchased properties and lands from Junker nobles here. As a result, they wielded considerable power in Potseh until a few days ago when they were completely eradicated by Joachim.

Although Joachim knew that these organizations could not be completely eradicated by him.

But being able to temporarily suppress Polish nationalism was enough for him.

Moreover, in a few days, he will return to Silesia to deal with the Poles in Upper Silesia.

Therefore, before leaving, he still needed to integrate these Polish businesses under his own name and unleash their powerful fighting force.

Joachim's car was driving through the old town on the south bank of the Varta River.

Although the province of Poz is primarily agricultural, it was known by the Germans as the granary of the empire.

However, there are still a few scattered industrial areas here, which, although not large in scale, are enough to produce automobiles, agricultural machinery and shipbuilding engines.

"So the Hippolit Chegilsky steelworks is the largest industrial site in all of Poz?"

Looking at the documents in his hand, Joachim couldn't help but ask Manstein, "It feels like you haven't worked in ages..."

"And the scale also seems a bit small; as of now, their factory only has a little over 600 people."

"That's perfectly normal, Your Highness."

"The empire is in chaos, and this is the Polish stronghold."

"It's already quite impressive that we can maintain the expenses of 600 people in normal times. This is thanks to the wartime economy. In normal times, the factory would have around 490 people."

"Besides, those Poles gathered together couldn't possibly be starting any work; they're plotting against us here..."

"So they don't eat? Who pays them if they don't have jobs?" Wolf couldn't help but interject.

"They have Poles providing them with food, and they've taken money from Polish separatists."

"So there's absolutely no need to rely on this to make a living."

Joachim has now learned to label people at will. Anyway, those Poles are his enemies, so it doesn't matter how he treats them, as long as he doesn't cross their bottom line.

As the saying goes, being merciful to the enemy is being cruel to yourself. Just throw any label at these guys and you're good to go.

Then drag them out and shoot them; that's their best fate.

"These guys are really something else," Wolf continued to complain. "They have perfectly good jobs, but instead they're causing trouble and creating divisions."

"Drive properly and stop talking nonsense," Joachim snapped at him, then turned back to Manstein: "So... is the factory completely cleaned up?"

"Approximately what will the production capacity be at that time?"

"Our troops need many orders, including rifles and artillery!"

"We produce about 25 to 30 units a day. After 6 months, our production capacity can increase by 50%. If things stabilize, we can reach a maximum of 50 units a day."

Manstein had already calculated these answers, so he gave his reply without hesitation: "Therefore, the value here is not very great for us, and it is close to Poland. My suggestion is to completely destroy these factories, or simply pack them up and send them back to Lower Silesia."

"..." Joachim did not express his opinion, but silently pondered the gains and losses involved.

"Anyway, this is Polish property, so even if we completely destroy it, we won't feel bad."

Manstein continued to explain his plan, analyzing the pros and cons for Joachim.

But just as they were talking, the vehicle slowly came to a stop.

Joachim and his men have arrived at the factory gate.

However, the place was even more bustling than Joachim had imagined, with many more job seekers crowding in besides the workers.

Joachim casually rolled down the car window and squinted at the countless people queuing up.

Logically speaking, Potsdam is an agricultural province, so the unemployed population shouldn't be this high...

However, now, long queues have formed all around the factory entrance.

It seems Joachim underestimated the wave of unemployment in Germany...

"Poles stand on the left, Germans stand on the right!"

The voice of the newly appointed German factory manager came from the doorway.

He was dressed in a suit and tie.

A white shirt, a black suit, shiny leather shoes, and a head of slicked-back hair.

A chubby figure stood on three stacked benches, shouting into a microphone, "I'll say it again: Germans on the right, Poles on the left!"

"What's going on here?" Joachim pointed at the fat factory manager. "Why are you doing this in the factory?"

Manstein remained silent, not saying a word, just silently watching the obese factory manager, lost in thought.

"Of course, it's about lowering labor costs."

Wolf had once been a member of the lower class in this era, so he naturally knew what the fat factory manager was doing.

"You mean temporary workers?"

Joachim felt a pang of pain in his heart. His past life had already given him the answer, but he still asked, unwilling to give up.

"Not even a temporary worker." Wolf shrugged, unconcerned. "Your Highness, one of the biggest costs in a steel mill is labor. If you want to make more profit to expand your business, you must reduce costs, and the only way to reduce costs is to lower wages and extend working hours."

"However, in the German Empire, some Poles weren't even considered human, let alone now."

"If those Polish separatists want to continue living on this land, then they must work longer hours and earn less than German workers..."

"This is how they integrate into the empire."